One More Thing for the To-Do List......

My carefully planned-out pre-party list of things to do came to a halt this morning while I was vacuuming the carpeting. My normally easy-to-push vacuum started being very sluggish, and I was straining to get it around the house. I looked down at the beater-brush and saw that the silly thing was at a stand-still. Well, no wonder I could barely push it from one side of the room to the other. Wouldn't you know that something would go wrong with that machine the day before a party?

So there I was this morning, having to change from my house-cleaning clothes to going-out clothes so I could drive that vacuum halfway across town to the vacuum store. With my two-seater Thunderbird, there was no way to fit that vacuum into the trunk. I had to set it on the floor of the passenger side of the car, with the handle leaning back against the seat, which I had to tilt backwards. All that vacuum needed was a hat, and you would've thought I had a skinny-necked person in the car with me. Off I went, so the vacuum-cleaner guy could tell me (once again) not to vacuum scatter rugs or fringed runners with that machine. (I don't have fringed rugs anymore, and I use a carpet sweeper on the scatter rugs.) Twenty dollars and two new motor belts fixed the problem, and back I came to not only finish vacuuming the carpets, but I started at the beginning again, just to make sure every last bit of dust and cat/dog hair got picked up.

It's 3:30 as I'm typing, and except for the little ride in my car, this is the first time I've sat down today. The day before a party is always like this, and so is the day before the day-before-the-party. The tables are all set up, the tablecloths and centerpieces are set out, and so are the plates and flatware. I decided to use pretty Valentine paper and plastic plates for the potluck dinner, but when I put the plastic forks on the sideboard, I just couldn't stand the look of them. And I even bought the heaviest plastic ones that I could find--- those heavy clear ones that make a squeaky noise when you're holding a bunch of them. No matter how "heavy" they are, they're still plastic forks. I put them away and took out all the "real" flatware. There are five sets of flatware in this house, so heaven knows I've got enough forks for a party.

All the cats are out on the screen-porch, and they've been there since this morning when I started cleaning. Had it been sunnier and warmer, they would've been out there since yesterday, but I let them in the house yesterday, which left me more things on my to-do list for today. It's nice and warm today (after morning rainshowers) and I hope it's the same tomorrow.

Mickey Kitty was a riot with those heart-shaped Valentine balloons. He grabbed hold of the ribbon attached to a balloon and started walking around the house with it. If you had your eye on just the balloon, it looked as if it were floating around the house on its own. At one point, Mickey ran under the sofa in the breakfast room, and he still had the ribbon in his mouth. My husband and I watched as the balloon went lower and lower towards the floor, until Mickey decided to let go of the ribbon. That kitten is such a funny little thing.... and little he still is. Mickey doesn't seem as if he's growing as fast as the others did. Maybe he was the runt of the litter, and quite possibly he will stay very small as he gets older.

Mickey reminds me of the little kid in the "Family Circus" comic strip--- the kid who runs around in circles to get from Point A to Point B, rather than going in a straight line. That's just what Mickey Kitty will do------ rather than go in a straight line from one room to the other, he will jump up on one side of a chair then down the other side, then go to another chair or sofa and do the same thing, then go under a table or around an end-table....... any direction will please him as long as it isn't a straight line.

For the next couple of days, however, the cats will have to be content with the porch, with maybe a few romps in the backyard if I have time to keep an eye on them. AngelBoy and ShadowBaby go into the yard on a daily basis, and Rusty always stays on the outside deck. So far, Mickey Kitty hasn't wanted to go out in the yard, and that's fine with me. He's too small yet, and he can jump very high, so I don't want to find out if he can jump onto the fence. (The other cats can't, which is why I'm comfortable letting them out in the yard-- I know they can't get out.) Mickey also runs away from the door if the bell rings, unlike ShadowBaby who will run to the door. AngelBoy hides when the doorbell rings. As for Rusty, the only way he'd get excited about a ringing doorbell would be if there was a kid delivering a pizza on the other side of the door.